Refused to make a small increase in sales tax to generate money for the conservation and recreation trust fund, which voters approved eight years ago. Iowa does not have one penny in a fund needed to clean up waterways, preserve natural habitats, repair trails and maintain public areas. Legislators instead approved water-quality legislation dedicating only a fraction of the money that would be raised by the sales tax.

Passed gun-rights legislation that included a half-baked “stand your ground” provision that many in the legal community have criticized as unclear and one judge labeled “void for vagueness.”

Essentially banned abortion in this state with an extremist "fetal heartbeat" bill signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds and now tied up in court.

Twiddled their thumbs while problems with the privatization of Medicaid intensified.

Cleared the way for unregulated “health plans” that are neither health insurance nor subject to state oversight.

Passed an unnecessary “Voter ID” bill orchestrated by Secretary of State Paul Pate (an official also on the ballot this year) that imposes hurdles to voting. The Iowa Supreme Court upheld a temporary injunction halting enforcement of sections pertaining to absentee ballots, but has yet to rule on the overall law.

Had enough yet, Iowa?

Because the GOP lawmakers who hurried through their radical agenda now want you to rehire them on Election Day for another term. Voters should not comply.

The state needs some political balance again, which Iowans can provide by voting for Democrats up and down the ballot. (That requires filling in all the bubbles on a ballot, since straight-ticket political party voting has been eliminated).

Before the GOP took control of the Iowa Legislature in early 2017, a slim Democratic majority in the Senate ensured bills were debated, the most radical ideas were thwarted and lawmakers compromised. Iowa needs to return to those days to prevent more damage.

To see the kind of economic havoc Republican control can wreak over time, one need look no further than Kansas, a state with a population and demographics similar to Iowa.

Former Gov. Sam Brownback took office in 2010 intent on pursuing the mythical GOP philosophy that tax cuts generate economic growth and government revenue. His self-described “real-life experiment” resulted in huge revenue shortfalls and devastation to state services before he ultimately asked state lawmakers to slow income-tax cuts, raise taxes on cigarettes, overhaul school funding and divert money from the state’s highway fund to balance the budget.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal spent eight years in office and entered with a $1 billion surplus. He pushed tax breaks for wealthy residents and new financial incentives for businesses, and he oversaw the gutting of government services. The state teetered on the brink of economic disaster. Abused children slept in government offices, college graduations were canceled and a $1 billion deficit loomed before voters put a Democratic governor in office to try to address the damage.

Back in Iowa, the GOP continues to focus on tax cuts and smaller government while thousands fewer public employees work to assist the elderly, maintain the environment, issue driver’s licenses, respond to child abuse, comply with federal requirements and implement the GOP’s short-sighted laws. Dozens of unemployment offices closed in 2011, when the unemployment rate was over 6 percent. Two mental health facilities were shuttered. Schools have not been adequately funded. Correctional officers are assaulted in understaffed prisons.

No doubt Republicans would say that Democrats swung the policy pendulum too far when they scored the trifecta of controlling the governor's office, Senate and House during Gov. Chet Culver's single term from 2007-2011.

Since the beginning of Gov. Terry Branstad's first term, in 1983, split government between the governor's office and one or both chambers of the Legislature has been the rule rather than the exception. That arrangement has often served Iowa well, forcing each party to the table to compromise on a path forward that no one liked in total but the majority could live with.

Most election forecasters predict a tight governor's race, Republicans maintaining control of the Iowa Senate and Democrats with a reasonable shot at taking control in the House.

Iowa cannot take more of the anti-government philosophy imparted by the Republican majority. Next up on the GOP agenda may be making budget cuts so deep they undermine the judicial system or giving tax giveaways to big businesses at the expense of services for the most vulnerable.